The best visual novel indie games, ranked by reviews
5 min read for players
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Data report Built from live indielist data on 2026-06-13. Rankings update as data changes.
indielist tracks 55 visual novel indie games on Steam, holding 974,450 reviews at an average of 93% positive. This list ranks them by Steam review count, the most reliable public sales proxy, with a white-box sales estimate behind every title. The most reviewed is Disco Elysium - The Final Cut with 115,075 reviews. Figures are tracked by indielist; sales numbers are estimates that each expand into their full formula.
The ranking
- Disco Elysium - The Final Cut · 115,075 reviews · 93% positive · 2019
- Persona 5 Royal · 86,245 reviews · 96% positive · 2022
- Persona 4 Golden · 69,742 reviews · 97% positive · 2020
- Lobotomy Corporation | Monster Management Simulation · 49,892 reviews · 94% positive · 2018
- What Remains of Edith Finch · 45,485 reviews · 96% positive · 2017
- Volcano Princess · 44,161 reviews · 98% positive · 2023
- Persona 3 Reload · 38,911 reviews · 94% positive · 2024
- Library Of Ruina · 38,278 reviews · 94% positive · 2021
- LoveChoice · 36,198 reviews · 92% positive · 2021
- Milk inside a bag of milk inside a bag of milk · 33,541 reviews · 96% positive · 2020
- Slay the Princess — The Pristine Cut · 32,134 reviews · 97% positive · 2023
- Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! · 31,136 reviews · 97% positive · 2021
- NEKOPARA Vol. 1 · 27,292 reviews · 95% positive · 2014
- Summer Memories · 24,553 reviews · 93% positive · 2020
- Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk · 21,657 reviews · 97% positive · 2021
- Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet · 19,442 reviews · 79% positive · 2018
- Until Then · 16,787 reviews · 97% positive · 2024
- Orwell: Keeping an Eye On You · 15,458 reviews · 90% positive · 2016
- KinitoPET · 14,385 reviews · 93% positive · 2024
- Monster Prom · 14,290 reviews · 93% positive · 2018
How this list is built
Games are ranked by Steam review count, the most reliable public proxy for sales when actual figures are private. Each title links to its indielist page, where the white-box sales estimate expands into the full Boxleiter formula, so you can audit the number rather than trust a black box. Review counts come from Steam; sales figures are estimates, not official sales data.
Want the underlying estimate for your own game? Try the sales estimator, or browse the full game directory.